New $100,000 Endowed Scholarship Fund for Photographic Arts at STLCC
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
The St. Louis Community College Foundation has received an anonymous contribution to establish The Endowed Scholarship Fund for Photographic Arts. The gift was made to honor David Hanlon, Professor; Dept. of Design, Visual & Performing Arts, St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
The generous community supporters say the $100,000 scholarship fund was created to provide support to St. Louis Community College students “who struggle to fund the cost of supplies and tuition” and to help them continue to work towards achieving their academic goals. The donors are accomplished photographers who began their careers “many years ago” when taking several photography courses at STLCC-Meramec. Since that time, they have built stellar portfolios of images, won awards and become leaders in the St. Louis Camera Club.
The scholarships that will be awarded are designated for STLCC students who have declared AFA-Photography as their major, have achieved a minimum GPA of 2.5 and are currently enrolled in at least nine credit hours. The funds will help pay for tuition, books, supplies and other equipment that is related to photography courses.
“Most of the students in our program are working and paying their own bills while trying to save for tuition and the costs of paper and studio materials,” Hanlon said. “This new scholarship will greatly ease their academic burden, allowing more of their attention and energies to be directed toward pursuing new visual ideas and learning how to effectively utilize the medium in a variety of ways. We are extremely grateful to be able to offer this newly established scholarship to photography students in the district and believe that this will be a life-changing gift for many individuals over the upcoming years.”
Hanlon says the AFA-Photography degree program provides a foundation of technical and aesthetic knowledge that prepares students for transfer to four-year schools, helps them develop portfolios for jobs in the commercial industry and cultivates skills that can be shared with others over a lifetime.
This is currently the only Foundation-administered scholarship designated specifically for photography students. Applications for spring of 2024 are open now, to students online at stlcc.academicworks.com.